Insurance Agent Charged with Workers’ Comp Fraud in Oklahoma

A Norman, Okla., insurance agent has been charged with fraudulently obtaining workers’ compensation insurance policies for roofing companies.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s office on April 5 filed charges against 27-year-old Fernando Espinoza, accusing the Farmers Insurance agent of making false or misleading statements in insurance applications and obtaining money by false pretenses.

According to the charges filed in Oklahoma County District Court, Espinoza allegedly miscoded and submitted to Farmers Insurance workers’ comp insurance policy identifying roofing companies as “paint and paper hanging” companies in order to obtain workers’ comp insurance.

Farmers Insurance doesn’t insure roofing companies for workers’ comp, according to court documents filed in the case.

In interviews with investigators, the roofing companies stated they told Espinoza they were primarily roofing companies. According to the charges, there were several cases where he would issue certificates of insurance that were not backed by actual policies and would use a quote number instead of a policy number. While appearing genuine, there were no actual policies, according to the AG’s office.

The case was referred to the AG’s Office by CompSource Oklahoma, which provides workers’ compensation insurance to employers in the state. It came to their attention through audits of the general contractors of the roofing companies who had been given the false insurance policies.

If convicted, Espinoza could face up to seven years in jail and/or a fine up to $10,000.

Source: Oklahoma AG’s Office

Topics Agencies Fraud Workers' Compensation Oklahoma